Lunar Maps

Table of Contents

Lunar maps, atlases and globes are a utilitarian art form. Some - such as Cassini's and Mellan's charts - are beautiful, while others are merely reminders of how hard it was to map the Moon before photography. This page brings together links and images from LPOD and other websites to make as much lunar cartography as possible accessible from one place. There is some overlap with the list of major maps and atlases on the Bibliography page, but here we are interested in all maps, not just the nomenclaturally important ones.

Notes:

Many of the listings below give links to pages on which the maps can be viewed. Scans of a small number of maps are hosted on the present site in the Map Collection.

The Astrogeology Science Center of the USGS in Flagstaff, maintains an extensive catalog of lunar maps in its possession. Some of these are special maps that were not widely circulated and are not part of any of the NASA-generated series listed below. See the Bibliography at the end of this page.

Entries flagged with a "(G)" were found in the draft Lunar Atlases and Maps section of the Bibliography to a yet-unpublished Moon book by Robert Garfinkle, and are added here by permission.

A slightly different version apparently printed as a loose sheet. There is a .BMP version on the website of Robert Harry van Gent. The scroll in the upper left of both versions suggests they were drawn in 1645, although Selenographia was reportedly published in 1647.

Detail from Robert Garfinkle: The atlas portfolio includes the explanatory pamphlet Erläuterungen Zum Fauth ’schen Mondatlas ("Explanations for Fauth's Moon Atlas.") by Philipp Fauth, 1964. Also included is Mondcarte der Ramen und Orter, 1936. The Moon is in 6 sections with lines of orthographic coordinates. Main charts of the atlas lack lines of coordinates.

Detail from Robert Garfinkle: Portfolio of Philipp Fauth’s Moon map in 6 sections and is the same maps as in the 1964 set.

1966 Antonin Rükl : South-up "Lunar Chart" 1:10 000 000 Orthographic Projection, compiled April 1966 with T. Rackham Moon in Focus1967 Soviet : Topophoto map of the Moon (35 cm x 52 cm)1967 Kuiper et al : Consolidated Lunar Atlas (LPOD)1967 ACIC : Lunar Farside Chart-1 First nearly complete map of farsideLPOD.1967 Lipskiy : (G)Atlas of the Other Side of the Moon: Atlas Created According to Pictures That Were Taken by the Interplanetary Spacecraft "Zond 3" on July 20, 1965, Part II. Moscow: Academy of Science of the USSR, Science Publisher, 1967. (Russian language)1967 Saari and Shorthill : Isothermal and isophotic atlas of the moon contours through a lunation1967 Shishakov and Bronshtėn : Karta Lunyca. 1968 DeVos : a curious "spaceflight" moonmap (the moon's near and far side) with illustrations of major spaceflight facts, depicted all around the two lunar orbs, on dark-blue background. It was made during the early hey-days of the Apollo program. Not a very accurate map.ca. 1968 (?) or 1969 (?) Rand McNally : a large moonglobe which was used as background in the crew portrait-photographs of Apollo 10 and Apollo 11.1968 Muller and Sjogren Gravimetric map of the lunar surface (Science vol. 161, p. 680)1969 Cherrington : Exploring the Moon Through Binoculars1969 ACIC : The Times Atlas of the Moon - detailed map of the moon's near side in 110 sections, without the libration zones. This atlas contains all sorts of info on lunar cartography and the Apollo project, especially the first manned lunar landing of Apollo 11.1969 National Geographic staff : The Earth's Moon, which is a map of both the moon's near and far side. This map was included in the February 1969 issue of the National Geographic Magazine (as part of the article How we mapped the moon, by David W. Cook).

1969 Times Newspapers : The Times Atlas of the Moon. London: Times Newspapers1969 Hallwag : bluish grey colored map of the moon's near side called Der Mond - La Lune - The Moon - La Luna by Hans Schwarzenbach. The verso side of that map shows a very odd drawing (painting) of the moon's far side, with very limited nomenclature. The moon's near side shows many of H.P. Wilkins' and P. Moore's "new" names (of the gazetteer in their book The Moon).1969 Hallwag : bluish grey colored map of the moon's near side in 3 sections, included in the Moon Flight Atlas by Patrick Moore. This book also contains a weird looking map of the moon's far side (khaki colored, little bit of nomenclature).1969-1970 Hallwag : a small version of Hallwag's map of both the moon's near and far side (recto-verso) in Herbert J. Pichler's book Die Mondlandung; Der Menschheit Grosstes Abenteuer (The landing on the moon; mankind's greatest adventure). The map of the moon's near side shows locations of proposed landing sites, and there's a curious greyish shade near the eastern limb, to give the moon a "globular shape". The map of the moon's far side is the same as the one in Patrick Moore's Moon Flight Atlas (grey colored, little bit of nomenclature).1969 Patricia A. Cullen : a small outline map of the moon's near side, which was also printed on pages 34-35 of Patrick Moore's The Guinness Book of Astronomy; Facts and Feats. Note: this map might be the only one on which the unofficial name Barker's Quadrangle was printed (in the southern half of Mare Crisium).1969 Johan Van Dijk (?) : a small "artistic" map of the moon's near side (both First Quarter and Last Quarter) on pages 58-59 in the book Eerste Maan-Dag by Alexander Huguenot Van Der Linden. Map shows names of major surface formations and the location of Apollo 11's landing site.1969 Rand McNally : 14" globe1969 George Philip and Son : globe1969 ACIC : 16" NASA Lunar Globe. Designed by ACIC cartographer Howard Holmes; 30° gore drawings produced by Lowell Observatory scientific illustrator Jay Inge; manufactured by Denoyer-Geppert Company, Chicago, Illinois.(Kopal and Carder, 1974, pp. 140-141).1970s Sternberg State Astronomical Institute? : Gores for Soviet globe1970s Barbara Von Damnitz : a very small map of the moon's near side in the book BLV Himmelsfuhrer Sterne + Planeten by Gunther D. Roth. Although it shows 94 named lunar formations, it's not a very accurate looking map.1970 Hansen : Guide to Lunar Orbiter Photographs. Washington, D.C.: NASA, SP-242.1971 Wilhelms & McCauley : Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon. This map was based on 44 quadrants maps which are now online at the Lunar & Planetary Institute.1970 Kopal : A New Photographic Atlas of the Moon1971 Philips : Philip's Moon Map1971 Gutschewski et al. : Atlas and Gazetteer of the Near Side of the Moon. Washington, D.C.: NASA, SP-2411971 Bowker & Hughes : Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon1972 Antonin Rükl : Maps of Lunar Hemispheres. Astrophysics & Space Science Library1970s Atlas : Globe1970s NASA/DMA : Lunar Topographic Orthophotomaps (LPOD)1972 Michael and Blackshear : Gravimetric map of the nearside (Moon vol. 3, p. 3881973 Kharkov Observatory : Albedo map of the Moon (35 cm wide x 52 cm high)1973 Gene Smith : Map of lunar domes1974 Voigt and Giebler : (G)Berliner Mond-Atlas: in 107 fortografischen Blättern. Berlin: Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte.1974 Lipskiy et al. : A unified system of selenodetic coordinates1976 Lawrence Clarke : outline map of the moon's near side in 16 sections, in Patrick Moore's book New Guide to the Moon, Norton 1976.1976 Antonin Rükl : map of the moon's near side in 76 sections; in the booklet Moon, Mars, and Venus (Hamlyn). The color of the moonmap's sections look somewhat dirty pink, and in the 1990's version it was changed to light khaki; in a much larger atlas called Hamlyn Atlas of the Moon (see 1990). The 2004 edition of this atlas was composed of blue-colored map sections.1980 O'Connor, T. J. : High Vision: A Dedication to Morning Star.1980 Philip : (G)Philip's Moon Map. London: George Philip and Sons.1981 Charles A. Cross : map of the moon's near side in 6 sections, in the book The Moon by Patrick Moore and Charles A. Cross (Mitchell Beazley Publishers, 1981). Note: in this book there's also a map of the moon's far side (Mercator projection) and the north/south polar regions (in stereographic projection). All maps were made by Charles A. Cross.1982 Bishop : Map and feature chart drawn by Roy Bishop, included in the annual RASC Observer's Handbook since 1982.1982 Dzhapiashvili : Pol︠i︡arimetricheskiĭ atlas luny1983 Rand Mc Nally : greenish colored map of the moon's near side, in 6 sections, included in the Atlas of the Universe by Patrick Moore. Shows lots of unofficial lunar nomenclature, of which the origin is still unknown (except H.P.Wilkins' new names). This atlas also shows a lightblue colored map of the moon's far side (Mercator projection), and two maps of both the moon's north- and south polar regions (stereographic projection). The 1970's edition of this atlas shows almost no nomenclature on the far side map.1983 Schwinge : (G)Fotografischer Mondatlas. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth.1984 Snyder : (G)Maps of the Heavens. New York: Abbeville Press.1985 Viscardy : Atlas-Guide Photographique de la Lune - reviewphoto1987 Don Wilhelms : Geologic Map of the Present Moon and Geologic Structures of the Moon, both in Geologic History of the Moon1989 M. Ketelslegers : outline map of the moon's near side (in four quadrants) in the book Maanmonografieen by Tony Dethier (VVS - Vereniging Voor Sterrenkunde, 1989).1990 Antonin Rükl : Hamlyn Atlas of the Moon (LPOD), revised in 2004 (see also LPOD A Wallfull of Rukl)1991 Apollo 15, 16, and 17 : a set of colorful geologic maps of the moon's near and far side, showing the moon's composition and distribution of chemical elements at the "Apollo-zones", included in the Lunar Sourcebook; a User's Guide to the Moon (edited by Heiken, Vaniman, French).1990s Paul Spudis : Clementine topography map1991 Harold Hill : map of the moon's near side in 16 sections, in his book A Portfolio of Lunar Drawings . Although Harold Hill was a fine draughtsman, his map in 16 sections looks rather poor and a bit "nonchalant". However, the detailed drawings of the telescopically observed lunar regions are exquisite!1994 Bridget Mintz Testa : "A Swirl of Moondust," Astronomy October 1994, pages 28 to 35 (this article contains several maps of swirl-clusters on the moon's surface, such as the Mare Ingenii region, the Mare Marginis region, the Lobachevskij region, the Gerasimovich region...).1997-2008 Kevin Clarke : Selenographia - online atlas based on Consolidated Lunar Atlas1998 Calvin Hamilton : Moon Icosahedron fold a globe based on USGS airbrush map1998 Joseph Cohen : (G)The Face of the Moon: A Descriptive Guide. Melbourne: Self-published.1999 Henry Hatfield : The Hatfield Photographic Lunar Atlas, edited by Jeremy Cook (contains an outline map of the moon's near side, in 16 sections).2000 (?) Stellanova : small pivotable moonglobe, although quite detailed, it is not very accurate at the moon's equatorial belt. Shows the landing sites of project Apollo.2000 Westfall : Westfall, John E., Atlas of the Lunar Terminator. (Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 2000)2001 A.S. Konopliv : Gravity map from Lunar Prospector data2002 Widdowson : Moon Phase Maps2002 Astronomer's Lunar Atlas and Explorer2002 Chon, Lim and Ang : Photographic Atlas of the Moon2003 Harry Hiesinger : Lunar mare ages2003(?) US Geological Survey : Earth's Moon Clementine Color-Coded Shaded Relief Map (fold a globe)2003 Christian LeGrand and Patrick Chevalley : Virtual Moon Atlas2003 John Murray : Philip's Moon Map; New Edition. A large map of the Moon's near side and a small map of the far side. More than 500 features named and indexed, and lots of info! Typographical error on the nearside map: the absence of the name BESSEL - DannyCaesApr 27, 20112003 John Murray : Moon map in Peter Grego's Philip's Moon Observer's Guide (which is an interesting booklet full of lunar drawings and photographs made by dedicated observers of the moon). A very handy guide!2003THE EARTH'S MOON (revised edition of the National Geographic Society's well known moonmap) (moon's nearside and farside)2004 Ben Bussey and Paul Spudis : Clementine Atlas of the Moon (LPOD)2004 Thierry Legault and Serge Brunier : Le Grand Atlas de la Lune2004 Filipe Alves : Color Atlas of the Moon2004 Lunar & Planetary Institute : Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon - a digitized version of Bowker and Hughes2004 Antonin Rükl : Atlas of the Moon, revised from 19902004(?) Jasper Halekas : Magnetic map of nearside2004 Columbus Globe : 26 cm globe made in Germany2005(?) Eddie Trimarchi : Moon Phase Maps- 18 looseleaf charts2005 Sky & Telescope : Sky & Telescope's Moon Map2005 Ralph Aeschliman : Maps of entire globe2005 Peter Grego : Observers Map of the Moon -- (see also 2007 and 2009)2005 NASA : Worldwind lunar map - interactive digital map using Clementine images2005 Byrne : Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Near Side of the Moon (Springer)2005 Cook : The Hatfield SCT Lunar Atlas” Photographic Atlas for Meade, Celestron, and Other SCT Telescopes. London: Springer-Verlag.2005 Dunlop et al. : Collins Atlas of the Night Sky. New York: Harper Collins.2005 Dunlop et al. : (G)Der Kosmos-Atlas Stern und Planeten: Mit allen Sternbildern und Mondkarten. Stuttgart: Franckh-Kosmos Verlag-Gmbh and Company, KG.2006 Rükl and Seronik : Sky & Telescope's Field Map of the Moon200X US Geological Survey : Map-A-Planet (LPOD) is a new style of digital map2006-2008 C.A. Wood : Farside Quadrant Maps. NW Quad; SE Quad2006 Legault and Brunier : (G)New Atlas of the Moon. Translated by Klaus R. Brasch. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books, 2006. (Originally titled, Le Grand Atlas de la Lune, 2004.)2007 US Geological Survey : Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Digital Atlas (LPOD) A new online mapping of nomenclature2007 John Moore : Poster with 45 cm diameter map including information on geology and geophysics2007 Grego : Grego, Peter T., Observer's Map of the Moon (Birmingham, published by the author, 2007) -- (see also 2005 and 2009)2007(?) unknown : Chinese globe2007 Google : Google Moon2007 Rükl : (G)Kleiner Mondatlas: Mondkarten für jedes Fernrohr. Erlangen, Germany: Oculum–Verlag GmbH (illustration -- see attachments to messages)2008 Byrne : The Far Side of the Moon: A Photographic Guide (Springer), see also 2005:Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Near Side of the Moon.2008 Alex Pruss of Baylor University : Lunar Maps several color and B/W maps identifying features.2008/2009 Burt : British amateur Geoff Burt's modern nomenclature map in the style of Thomas Harriot2009 John Moore : 20 sheet spiral bound atlas2009 The Oberhausen Gasometer 25 m diameter Moon Balloon : (see LPOD The Biggest Moon on Earth)2009 (?) Grego : Grego, Peter T., Observer's Map of the Moon (internet resource) -- (see also 2005 and 2007)2009 : a greyish-lightbluish colored map of the moon's near side (in two hemispheres: northern and southern), and a small one of the far side, in Scott L. Montgomery's book Moon : a tribute to earth's nearest neighbour (which is an overview of lunar sciences and related spaceflight, with wonderful photographs made during the Apollo program!).2010 Fred Dase : Lunar Field Atlas PDF file of a labeled Consolidated Lunar Atlas in 38 sheets.2012 Ben Bussey and Paul Spudis: The Revised and Updated edition of the Clementine Atlas of the Moon.2012 Charles Wood and Maurice Collins: 21st Century Atlas of the Moon2013 Sky & Telescope Lunar Globe, see LPOD Hemispheric Hole2013 Kaguya Lunar Globe, see LPOD Spherical Pleasures2014 John Moore: Craters of the Near Side Moon.2014 John Moore: Features of the Near Side Moon.2014 National Geographic Society: THE EARTH'S MOON: a reprint of the National Geographic Society's well-known moonmap which (originally) appeared in N.G.'s February 1969 issue (in the article That Orbed Maiden; The Moon), and was seen in the office of Lou Grant (Ed Asner). Note: there already seems to have been a revision of this classic moonmap in 2003. The nomenclature on the moon's far side looks complete, and the cartography of both lunar hemispheres look totally different compared to the original airbrush technique of 1969 (the revised edition shows much more details!). This is a must for those who want to know HOW complete the nomenclature on both hemispheres really is! (24.9 Euro in Atlas &Zanzibar, a shop for cartography maps, atlases, and globes in Ghent and Antwerp, Belgium). - DannyCaesOct 11, 20152016 John Moore: Craters of the Far Side Moon2016 Luke Jerram's MUSEUM OF THE MOONThe perfect globe-shaped 7 meter diameter MOON-balloon, made from orbital LROC photographs (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera). This is not just a work of art! It's a real globe-shaped gigantic atlas of the entire moon's surface! VERY unique!!! See also:Moon-Wiki page Museum of the Moon.2016 Charles J. Byrne: The Moon's Largest Craters and Basins: Images and Topographic Maps from LRO, GRAIL and Kaguya 1st Ed. 2016 Edition2017 John Moore: Features of the Near Side Moon (Second Edition) - a November 2017 publication.

US Geological Survey Geologic Maps

During the 1960s-80s the USGS in Flagstaff created two series of geologic maps. First were the Geologic Atlas of the Moon nearside maps based on the 1:1,000,000 LAC quadrangles. Later these were supplemented with six geologic maps of the entire surface at 1:5,000,000 scale.

Curiosities and remarkable photographs

The Moon map of National Geographic (The Earth's Moon) (created in 1969) was also seen in the office of Lou Grant (Ed Asner) in the seventies TV-sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

There are many photographs showing astronauts and their families gathered around the Rand McNally Moon globe from 1968(?) (example: Apollo 10 crew plus families). These photographs appeared in magazines such as LIFE, Paris-Match, etc... See also LPOD Half Moon in Broward.

Whitaker, Ewen. A.; Mapping and Naming the Moon, a history of lunar cartography and nomenclature. Cambridge, 1999. -- mentions and illustrates a number of historic and modern lunar maps, most of which can be found in the List of Illustrations on pp. ix-xi

Wilkins and Moore; The Moon (1961) -- has, as Appendix I, a fairly comprehensive list of lunar maps and globes from 1610-1960, compiled by A. Paluzíe-Borrell

In addition to these printed works, the USGS Astrogeology Branch in Flagstaff, Arizona has a large collection of printed maps published from 1960 on. The Index to their catalog of Maps of the Planets and Satellites includes 857 lunar maps. Unfortunately, few of the ones mentioned above are available on-line.